The Best Global Brands 2006: Coca-Cola remains number one

Together with Interbrand, the leading global brand consultancy, BusinessWeek has published the annual ranking of the 100 most valuable global brands (measured in US dollars) for the sixth time in a row. Once again, Coca-Cola remains number one with an estimated value of US$67 billion this year.

With its script logo and bottle design the brand has become famous and distinctive everywhere in the world. Coca-Cola has also managed to communicate its brand in a highly successful way and constantly adjusted to the respective situation - an achievement which no other company appears to have made with comparable success.

Design can lead to a clear increase in value and success in the international market, if it is integrated as a fundamental factor in business strategy and brand management - besides the current number one, this is also shown by the climbers in this year’s brand rankings, among them several winners of the internationally renowned red dot award.

This year’s ten top brands are: Coca-Cola (#1), Microsoft (#2), IBM (#3), GE (#4), Intel (#5), Nokia (#6), Toyota (#7), Disney (#8), McDonald’s (#9) and Mercedes (#10). Google, Starbucks, eBay, Motorola, Hyundai, BMW and UBS recorded the largest increases in brand value; Gap, Ford and Kodak the highest losses.

Mercedes remains the most valuable German brand, BMW is one of the top climbers

In total, all German brands increased their brand value, some even substantially. Mercedes, who received a ‘red dot: best of the best’ in this year’s red dot design award, made it back into the top ten for the first time since 2003 and remains the most valuable German brand (#10 with a 9% increase in value). For another red dot winner, namely BMW, their investment in innovative, outstanding design has also paid off – with a brand value increase of 15% BMW is one of the top climbers in this year’s ranking (#15).

Nokia regains leadership position in mobile telecom industry

High design quality is an extremely important factor for the value of a brand; a fact also clearly shown by Nokia (#6): In this year’s red dot design award the Nokia 8800 was the only mobile phone to receive a ‘red dot: best of the best’ and the brand managed to regain its leadership position in the mobile telecom industry after year over year decline from 2000 to 2004.

The red dot design team of the year 2006 belongs to the gainers

LG, who were selected red dot design team of the year because they have been characterised by a consistent company philosophy for years and maintained their position in the global market with high-quality and pioneering design, also increased their brand value by a full 14%. 

“In the majority of cases, those who made the ranking are proactively managing their businesses through a brand lens. They have recognized that their brand should be the central organizing principle given the incredible value they represent,” said Jez Frampton, CEO of Interbrand. “The need to measure and manage brand performance continues to be a critical priority for senior management as evidenced by the incredible interest shown in this ranking.”

American brands dominate the ranking

American brands are still dominating the ranking with seven of the first ten places and 51 brands in total. New entries in the 100 most valuable brands are Lexus (#92) and Burberry (#98). No longer listed are Hertz (last year #83) and Heineken (last year #100).

Brand evaluations by Interbrand

‘The Best Global Brands’ are the 100 most valuable global brands which have a value exceeding $2.7 billion. They were selected according to two criteria: Firstly, the brand had to be global and achieve significant earnings in the most important global markets, which means that a third of their earnings had to come from foreign markets. Secondly, sufficiently publicly available marketing and financial data were a prerequisite. The listed brand value expresses the net present value of the earnings the brand is expected to generate and secure exclusively thanks to the presence of the brand. Interbrand determined brand values using a method they developed which is widely recognised and applied globally.

’The Best Global Brands 2006’ will be published in the print edition of BusinessWeek and is also available on-line at

www.businessweek.com.

You can find the complete ranking at: www.interbrand.com or at www.interbrand.de